Prompted for key password when key is in ssh-agent












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In an old shell session, the number of ssh keys in ssh-agent tends to be large enough to fail authentication with the server, simply because the client just throws keys at it, FIFO fashion. It seems to do this even if the IdentityFile directive is specified for the relevant host in ~/.ssh/config.



To remedy that, I added the IdentitiesOnly directive to said file. Now, however, I'm prompted for an ssh key password when I attempt to connect to the server. This, despite the fact that the key is in ssh-agent. When I remove IdentitiesOnly from the configuration file, no prompt is presented and access is granted.



So, my questions is, how can I ensure that the correct key (and no other) is presented to a given server and avoid being prompted for that key's password?










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    In an old shell session, the number of ssh keys in ssh-agent tends to be large enough to fail authentication with the server, simply because the client just throws keys at it, FIFO fashion. It seems to do this even if the IdentityFile directive is specified for the relevant host in ~/.ssh/config.



    To remedy that, I added the IdentitiesOnly directive to said file. Now, however, I'm prompted for an ssh key password when I attempt to connect to the server. This, despite the fact that the key is in ssh-agent. When I remove IdentitiesOnly from the configuration file, no prompt is presented and access is granted.



    So, my questions is, how can I ensure that the correct key (and no other) is presented to a given server and avoid being prompted for that key's password?










    share|improve this question

























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      0








      In an old shell session, the number of ssh keys in ssh-agent tends to be large enough to fail authentication with the server, simply because the client just throws keys at it, FIFO fashion. It seems to do this even if the IdentityFile directive is specified for the relevant host in ~/.ssh/config.



      To remedy that, I added the IdentitiesOnly directive to said file. Now, however, I'm prompted for an ssh key password when I attempt to connect to the server. This, despite the fact that the key is in ssh-agent. When I remove IdentitiesOnly from the configuration file, no prompt is presented and access is granted.



      So, my questions is, how can I ensure that the correct key (and no other) is presented to a given server and avoid being prompted for that key's password?










      share|improve this question














      In an old shell session, the number of ssh keys in ssh-agent tends to be large enough to fail authentication with the server, simply because the client just throws keys at it, FIFO fashion. It seems to do this even if the IdentityFile directive is specified for the relevant host in ~/.ssh/config.



      To remedy that, I added the IdentitiesOnly directive to said file. Now, however, I'm prompted for an ssh key password when I attempt to connect to the server. This, despite the fact that the key is in ssh-agent. When I remove IdentitiesOnly from the configuration file, no prompt is presented and access is granted.



      So, my questions is, how can I ensure that the correct key (and no other) is presented to a given server and avoid being prompted for that key's password?







      ssh ssh-agent






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      asked Jan 20 at 19:29









      chbchb

      2961416




      2961416






















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          I came across the solution in this blog post.



          Essentially, the idea is to refer to the public key, not the private key, in the IdentityFile declaration. So the final configuration for host foo would be something like this:



          Host foo
          Hostname foo.org
          User admin
          IdentityFile ~/.ssh/foo.pub
          IdentitiesOnly yes





          share|improve this answer























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            1 Answer
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            active

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            I came across the solution in this blog post.



            Essentially, the idea is to refer to the public key, not the private key, in the IdentityFile declaration. So the final configuration for host foo would be something like this:



            Host foo
            Hostname foo.org
            User admin
            IdentityFile ~/.ssh/foo.pub
            IdentitiesOnly yes





            share|improve this answer




























              0














              I came across the solution in this blog post.



              Essentially, the idea is to refer to the public key, not the private key, in the IdentityFile declaration. So the final configuration for host foo would be something like this:



              Host foo
              Hostname foo.org
              User admin
              IdentityFile ~/.ssh/foo.pub
              IdentitiesOnly yes





              share|improve this answer


























                0












                0








                0







                I came across the solution in this blog post.



                Essentially, the idea is to refer to the public key, not the private key, in the IdentityFile declaration. So the final configuration for host foo would be something like this:



                Host foo
                Hostname foo.org
                User admin
                IdentityFile ~/.ssh/foo.pub
                IdentitiesOnly yes





                share|improve this answer













                I came across the solution in this blog post.



                Essentially, the idea is to refer to the public key, not the private key, in the IdentityFile declaration. So the final configuration for host foo would be something like this:



                Host foo
                Hostname foo.org
                User admin
                IdentityFile ~/.ssh/foo.pub
                IdentitiesOnly yes






                share|improve this answer












                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer










                answered Feb 10 at 18:46









                chbchb

                2961416




                2961416






























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